The Principal Research Core will be directed towards the primary CCCR goal of designing and conducting , developmental pilot tests of novel clinical practices and service delivery models, informed by research findings and' collaborative input from parents, youth and providers, meant to help youth and families in inner city community contexts link to and actually engage in child mental health services in order to inform larger ROI level studies. This Core will be co-directed by Drs. Mary McKav and Kimberly Hoagwood. The proposed pilot research activities directly apply a collaborative process to the three challenge areas .' guiding the CCCR. Two studies are proposed which both focus on the collaborative design, implementation and examination of novel clinical practices which are meant to increase the engagement of highly vulnerable youth and their adult caregivers via creating a foundational collaborative structure that fosters alignment of the perspectives of inner-city youth, families and providers. Ongoing opportunities will be created for stakeholders to provide feedback on the novel service models as feedback from participants is available and,findings'. emerge with the goal of enhancing retention and planning for larger effectiveness studies, if findings warrant. -,' The first study, STEP-UP: Evidence-based, multi-level services for adolescents with disruptive behavioral difficulties and school failure will be investigated by Drs. Mary McKay and Kimberly Hoagwood (with the strong collaboration of Drs. Sue Marcus and Anil Chacko). It also directly address the third stated challenge area (e g. models for the development and testing of intensive, multi-level services specifically for .youth struggling with mental health difficulties and compounding social circumstances are needed which are.. ? ?based on both existing evidence and stakeholder input). Funding for the clinical service delivery (only) of--' ' ' STEP-UP has been secured via dollars from the NYS OMH and the Robinhood Foundation. Thus, funding' -- from the CCCR will provide much nieeded research support to study the systematic, collaborative development,- refinement and pilot testing for this service innovation. Next a second pilot study is proposed, Understanding Latino parents' mental health literacy to enhance engagement in child mental health services. This pilot study is being investigated by two new.researchers of color and will serve as ideal preparation for the next generation to conduct collaborative research studies which involves a multi-step approach based upon both qualitative formative research and quantitative examination with all steps overseen by a collaborative working group of researchers and key stakeholders. In sum, both of the proposed pilot studies aim to address the needs of inner-city youth and, families who are least likely to engage in appropriate child mental health services and who experience specific barriers to engagement in care. Each novel service delivery strategy is meant to rely on both existing evidence-based' - interventions, but which require adaptation to actually reach vulnerable youth or to be set in real world urban community, school or practice settings.